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St. Paul Saints

St. Paul, MN – The Sioux Falls Canaries rallied late to take game two of their four-game series against the St. Paul Saints at CHS Field, 4-1.

The Canaries got on the scoreboard first in the top of the second inning. Dan Motl reached on a fielders’ choice, advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw and scored on Brett Marr’s single to give the Birds’ a 1-0 lead.

St. Paul though, came right back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, as Jack Goihl led off the inning with a single and came around to score on Mitch Delfino’s RBI single.

Another single and a walk in the inning loaded the bases for St. Paul, but Miles Nordgren struck out Anthony Gallas to keep the game tied at one.

Nordgren finished with a no-decision, allowing one run on seven hits over six innings pitched, striking out a season-high six batters in arguably his best start of the season. Benji Waite also took a no-decision for the Saints, allowing an unearned run over six innings of work.

In the bottom of the seventh, Dylan Thompson found himself in a bit of a jam with runners at first and third and just one out, but Thompson got Nate Hanson to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat.

And in the top of the eighth, Sioux Falls took the lead. In his second inning of relief, Vinny Nittoli walked the first two batters, Brett Marr and Jabari Henry, to lead off the inning before Ty Morrison gave the Birds the lead with a RBI single.

Chris Jacobs followed with a groundout, but Henry scored from third on the play to extend the Canaries’ lead to 3-1.

Thompson worked another scoreless inning in the bottom of the eighth before the Birds added an insurance run in the top of the ninth. Trey Vavra and Aaron Gretz led-off the inning with back-to-back singles before Motl grounded into a 6-4 fielder’s choice, scoring Vavra from third.

For the third-straight game, Jose Ortega came out for the ninth, setting down the Saints in order for the second-straight night to nail down his eighth save of the year.

Thompson picks up the win for the Canaries, who move to 23-27 on the year, while Nittoli takes the loss for St. Paul, who fall to 30-20 on the season.

The Canaries continue their seven-game road trip in St. Paul on Wednesday against the St. Paul Saints at CHS Field. LHP Joe Bircher (3-4, 5.19) will take the hill for the Birds facing Saints’ RHP Ryan Zimmerman (3-3, 4.39 ERA). First pitch is at 1:05 PM in St. Paul and you can tune into all the Canaries action on the road on KWSN 1230-AM, 98.1-FM.

The Birds will return to The Birdcage for a three-game set against the Fargo-Moorhead Hawks starting July 18 at 7:05 PM. For information on single-game tickets, contact the Canaries Ticket Office at (605) 336-6060 or visit sfcanaries.com for more information.